The Gifts of Imperfection

Let Go of Who You Think You're Supposed to Be and Embrace Who You Are

New York Times best-selling author and professor Brené Brown offers a powerful and inspiring book that explores how to cultivate the courage, compassion, and connection to embrace your imperfections and to recognize that you are enough.

Each day we face a barrage of images and messages from society and the media telling us who, what, and how we should be. We are led to believe that if we could only look perfect and lead perfect lives, we'd no longer feel inadequate. So most of us perform, please, and perfect, all the while thinking, What if I can't keep all of these balls in the air? Why isn't everyone else working harder and living up to my expectations? What will people think if I fail or give up? When can I stop proving myself? In The Gifts of Imperfection, Brené Brown, PhD, a leading expert on shame, authenticity and belonging, shares what she's learned from a decade of research on the power of Wholehearted Living--a way of engaging with the world from a place of worthiness. In her ten guideposts, Brown engages our minds, hearts, and spirits as she explores how we can cultivate the courage, compassion, and connection to wake up in the morning and think, No matter what gets done and how much is left undone, I am enough, and to go to bed at night thinking, Yes, I am sometimes afraid, but I am also brave. And, yes, I am imperfect and vulnerable, but that doesn't change the truth that I am worthy of love and belonging.

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I have read another one of Brene's books, so when this one became available at our library I grabbed it up. Although it is listed as a self-help book, I wouldn't say it necessarily offers a step-by-step guide on how to live a "wholehearted" life. Many of the topics (or as she calls them, "guideposts") are things that need to be PRACTICED. It is not a one-time thing that you do and check off your list. These are lifestyles that you should be cultivating and pursuing - such as authenticity, self-compassion, gratitude and joy, creativity, play and rest, calm and stillness, laughter, song and dance. There were definitely a ton of nuggets that I took from this book, many of which I hope to implement in my daily life. I am definitely a perfectionist so this book hit right where it hurt... but was exactly what I needed to hear. I would give it a 9 out of 10.

The description says:
// Each day we face a barrage of images and messages from society and the media telling us who, what, and how we should be. \\
The media? You mean those 6 corporations which own all the media? Oh wait! When you research further, it appears that four investment firms actually own those 6 corporations and the top 200 newspapers in America: BlackRock, Vanguard Group, State Street and Fidelity [FMR LLC] - - and since we don't know who their major investors are, it is Secret People who are actually telling us what to believe. [I have no opinion on this book.]

I've been challenging myself to grow over the past 8 years especially, with an enthusiasm for meditation and right living. This book offers a unique medicine we are not getting from other sources--namely, confronting the "boggie-man" of shame with courage and skill. I enjoy how the author uses so many personal testimonies because after all, that's where the nitty-gritty of growing occurs. In all the little moments we triumph over the epidemic of shame in our culture. She teaches about connection, and what better way to not feel alone in your shame if someone gives plenty of examples about facing it in their own lives. To me this proves that Brene walks the walk and is not just intellectualizing everything. Authentic, beautiful, and powerful. The real deal.

I am a full time psychotherapist with 34 years experience and 6 years of university training. I regularly assign this woman,s books/tapes to my patience......and I keep a copy of her tapes in both my vehicles.

I had a high expectation but am disappointed. As a professor doing teaching and research, I understand that the author discusses main point through talking about her own experience is to avoid the tendency of teaching the readers. However, she just talks tooooooo much about herself. Also, she repeated mentioned the shame research and how people resist the idea, it also makes me uncomfortable. I do not have any preposition in loving or hating shame research, assuming that I probably dislike this topic and attempting to persuade me into believing her research topic is extremely important, to me, made me tired in reading it till the end.